United Federation of Planets
The United Federation of Planets (more commonly known as the Federation, or abbreviated to UFP) is a federal republic composed of many member worlds and star systems. In terms of both size and population, it is the largest singular interstellar government in the Milky Way galaxy. History Early inter-species alliances The roots of the Federation stretch back to the human species' early history in galactic affairs. Humanity, represented primarily by the United Earth Government (UEG), began to expand across the Orion Arm of the Milky Way during the later half of the 22nd century through the use of both sleeper ships and generation ships. After the invention of faster-than-light travel in the form of the Shaw-Fujikawa Translight Engine, mankind began to expand even further, and at a faster rate. Before long, humanity had come into contact with several nearby civilizations, all of which were less technologically advanced than themselves. The first real cooperation with other species began out of necessity and survival, when humanity was thrust into war with the Covenant Empire. Superior both technologically and numerically, the Covenant quickly cut a swath through human-controlled space. In a matter of decades, dozens of colony worlds had fallen, and billions of lives were needlessly slaughtered. Though the Covenant's attacks were focused almost exclusively on human worlds, other less-advanced species which resided in human space also suffered. To avoid species-wide annihilation, the human race needed to make alliances, and fast. Humbled and desperate, the UEG besought the aid of several neighboring races, including the Na'vi, Stuah, Kzinti, Arcturians, Axanarri, Androsynth, and Andorians, the latter of which refused aid, opting instead for neutrality and isolationism for protection. This alliance of races was eventually bolstered by the Sangheili, who largely abandoned the Covenant's ways and assisted the humans upon being betrayed by the theocracy's Hierarchs. The Covenant was defeated at the Battle of Installation 00; it was a Pyrrhic victory however, as billions were dead on both sides. Following the dismantling of the Covenant, humanity took several decades to rebuild and recover. Strife and discord among the former Covenant client races, as well as direct conflict with Covenant remnant factions, stymied peace for several years after the war's end. In 2558 CE the smart AI Cortana and an assemblage of other artificial intelligences known as the Created took control of much of human and Sangheili space. This rapid and unforeseen takeover eventually grew to affect most of known space, save for that of the Andorians, who were closed off from all outside influence. To combat the Created, the UEG, along with the Swords of Sangheilios and bodies representing the Na'vi, Stuah, Kzin, Arcturian, Axanarri, Androsynth, and Yonhet species, formed yet another alliance, later known as the Orion Alliance. It was under the Orion Alliance that the Created were defeated after a brief but intense conflict. Following the Created's uprising, many laws were put in place by the UEG and several other allied interstellar governments restricting the development of advanced artificial intelligence, restrictions which would continue, in some form or another, until well into the days of the Federation. The Orion Alliance itself was maintained for centuries following the resolution of the conflict, but its importance was lessened; it was not formally dissolved until several decades before the foundation of the Federation. Humanity enjoyed decades of well-deserved peace after the resolution of the conflict with the Created. However, in the early 27th century, the UEG made contact with the Chenjesu, crystalline beings who warned of the threat of the Ur-Quan Hierarchy of Battle Thralls, a xenophobic thrall empire which had been at war with the Covenant for centuries. With the Covenant gone, the Ur-Quan were able to expand their empire, subjugating many species along the way. When the full gravity of the situation became clear to human leadership, they and the other former members of the Orion Alliance combined forces with the allies of the Chenjesu, the Mmrnmhrm, Yehat, Shofixti, and the Syreen, to form the Alliance of Free Stars. The Alliance's desperate military force, comprised of many species, waged war against the Hierarchy, but it was not enough. By 2635 CE, Earth fell to the Hierarchy and was placed under the watch of an Ur-Quan-controlled fleet. The UEG's allies did not fare much better in the aftermath of their defeat. The Alliance of Free Stars was dismantled, and many of the races which comprised it were likewise quarantined under slave shields or worse. Eventually a slave shield was placed over Earth, and on many human worlds people were enslaved and enthralled: the post-war horror of the middle 27th century began. Meanwhile in the nearby Beta Quadrant, the Confederacy of Vulcan, allied with the Klingon Empire, were waging a war of their own with the Ur-Quan. Vulcan itself and many of the Vulcan's inner colonies were assaulted by the Ur-Quan, though the first waves of the invasion were successfully repelled. At last the planet Vulcan was hidden from the Ur-Quan using advanced holographic technology given by the Pierson's Puppeteers, while most of the population fled deeper into the Beta Quadrant, outside the reach of the Hierarchy. Most of the Hierarchy's attentions turned to the militant Romulan Star Empire; Romulus refused to ally with the Vulcans, even in the face of enslavement by the Ur-Quan. Consequently, Romulus fell to the Hierarchy and was placed under a slave shield. Before the Klingons could hide their homeworld and escape with the Vulcans, they were discovered by the Ur-Quan, who turned their attentions to the Vulcan-Klingon alliance now that the Romulans were pacified. The Klingons fought valiantly but were eventually defeated, and Qo'noS was placed under a slave shield. The Vulcans, however, were able to escape the wrath of the Ur-Quan, who were distracted by renewed hostilities with the former races of the Alliance of Free Stars. Their homeworld secured and their population safely migrated to the far side of the Beta Quadrant, the Vulcans would emerge one of the species least-affected by the wars with the Ur-Quan, consequently granting them a great amount of power and influence once the post-Ur-Quan era began. Decades after the defeat of the Alliance of Free Stars, a reverse-engineered Precursor flagship, the ''Triumph'', under the command of Captain Zelnick Shepard, successfully rallied the defeated races of the former alliance towards a new conflict with the Ur-Quan. This new organization, the New Alliance of Free Stars, took advantage of the Ur-Quan's war with another faction of their species, the Kohr-Ah. Inspired by the Covenant's teachings, the Kohr-Ah endeavored to eradicate all sentient life in the galaxy, including themselves at some point, rather than enslaving it. After a grueling battle, the New Alliance of Free Stars was able to destroy the Ur-Quan's ultimate weapon, the Precursor starship known as the ''Sa-Matra'', and win the war. The Ur-Quan Hierarchy retreated from known space, while the Kohr-Ah were rendered almost entirely extinct following the conflict. The New Alliance was victorious and Earth was freed from its overlords, but humanity and the other surviving species were left in a dramatically weakened state. On many human worlds people were starving and desperate. Relief did not come until the efforts of the genius 27th century scientist Zefram Cochrane came to fruition. Origins In 2670 CE, prolonged use of the hyperspace lanes in the Orion Arm of the Milky Way resulted in an instance of inter-dimensional fatigue, collapsing all of the known hyperlanes: the collapse was due to the machinations of the Orz, a collective of secretly-malicious beings who were extradimensional in origin, though this revelation would not be discovered for many decades. The previously existing hyperlane routes were now gone, and without them, fast and efficient travel between star systems was not possible. Slipspace too was affected by the inter-dimensional fatigue, but to a lesser extent; travel through slipspace was possible, but not as easily as it had once been. The race was on to find an alternative method of faster-than-light travel to replace hyperspace and slipspace. Zelnick Shepard, the former captain of the ''Triumph'', facilitated the formation of the League of Sentient Races, comprised of many of the former members of both the New Alliance of Free Stars and ex-Hierarchy thrall races, in order to solve the hyperspace crisis. Shepard also began work on a Warp Bubble Transport system to replace hyperspace travel. His experiments were successful, but before his technology was able to be fully replicated, he embarked on an ill-planned mission to the Kessari sector near the center of the galaxy, hoping to find a way to restore hyperspace. Shepard and his crew never returned from their quest, though it is unknown what happened to them. One of Zelnick Shepard's pupils, the brilliant Earth scientist Zefram Cochrane, attempted to follow up on Shepard's work in creating warp technology. After years of toil, Cochrane had finally succeeded in developing warp theory, built on the backbone of what was understood from Shepard's lost warp bubble ship. In 2683 CE, Cochrane's experimental ship, the Phoenix, outfitted with a functional warp drive, underwent its first flight. The Phoenix's next few flights took it out past the routes of the defunct hyperlanes, and into Vulcan space. The Vulcans, who were themselves recovering from earlier hostilities with the Ur-Quan, had long traversed the galaxy using warp drive technology, but their homeworld, which was relatively close to Earth, was not located near a major hyperlane. The Vulcans had only recently begun expanding back into their former territory, now that the Ur-Quan Hierarchy had been defeated. A Vulcan ship called the T'Plana-Hath ''followed the ''Phoenix back to Earth, where Zefram Cochrane initiated first contact with the species on behalf of the United Earth Government and the League of Sentient Races. The Vulcans assisted humanity and the other races in the adoption of warp technology for space travel, and also took a more direct role in helping Earth and the other devastated human colony worlds fully recover from the devastating conflicts with the Covenant and the Ur-Quan which had ravaged their civilization during the last two centuries. The roots of the Federation stretch back to mid-27th century when on April 5th, 2663 CE the United Earth Government made first contact with the Confederacy of Vulcan. Earth and Vulcan maintained good, if occasionally strained, relations for the next century. In 2751 CE the UEG launched its first warp 5 starship, the Enterprise (NX-01). The Enterprise, and consequently humanity, quickly became a significant player in local galactic politics. In the first few years of her service the Enterprise and her Captain, Jonathan Archer, intervened several times in conflicts between the Vulcans and their long term adversaries, the Andorians. Their efforts helped to decrease tensions and work towards peace while at the same time establishing the humans as a neutral and reliable party. In 2755 CE Jonathan Archer convinced ships from the Andorian, Vulcan, and Tellarite militaries to ally for the first time in history in order to help locate a Romulan drone ship which had been utilizing advanced holographic technology to attack ships from various states and frame other states for those attacks, thus creating extreme political instability. The Romulans in particular were attempting to provoke a war between the Andorian Empire and the United Planets of Tellar, a war which Archer helped to avert. Coalition of Planets Later in 2755 CE, United Earth Foreign Minister Nathan Samuels and United Earth Starfleet Command hosted a conference with delegates from Earth, Vulcan, Andoria, Tellar, Denobula Triaxa, Rigel, and Cordia. Samuels' goal with this conference was to create an alliance which would help promote peace and trade on the astropolitical scene; the conference was initially disrupted by the anti-alien terrorist group Terra Prime, and while there was a disturbingly large amount of xenophobic sentiment on Earth, the conference was ultimately successful. The Coalition Compact was signed by representatives of Earth, Vulcan, Andoria and Tellar in March 2755 CE and the Coalition of Planets was formed. Several years afterward, the ongoing Romulan incursions into human space came to a head with the start of the Earth-Romulan War. The war eventually reached Earth itself before the Romulans were finally defeated at the Battle of Cheron. Following the war, the United Earth Government and the Romulan Star Empire negotiated a peace treaty over the subspace radio that led to the creation of the Romulan Neutral Zone, which the Star Empire retreated behind for over a century. The war was officially over in 2760 CE. Birth of the Federation Following the Earth-Romulan War, the allied worlds of the Coalition decided to tighten relations, forming a single interplanetary state. On August 12th, 2761 CE the United Federation of Planets was founded by the United Earth Government, the Confederacy of Vulcan, the Andorian Empire, the United Planets of Tellar, and the Alpha Centauri Concordium. The founding ceremony was held in San Francisco on Earth and the Articles of the Federation were signed by representatives from all the new member states-to-be, including Archer and Samuels of Earth, Soval and Solkar of Vulcan, Thy'lek Shran of Andoria, and Gora bim Gral of Tellar. The various member states of the nascent Federation were united under their agreement to exist semi-autonomously under a single centralized government based on the principles of "universal liberty, rights, and equality, and to share their knowledge and resources in peaceful cooperation and space exploration." As the Federation expanded through the admittance of more and more worlds, it reluctantly came into conflict with more belligerent and imperialistic powers around it, such as the Klingon Empire, Romulan Star Empire, Cardassian Union, Ferengi Alliance, Breen Confederacy, and others. All the while hundreds of planets and species would continue to join the Federation as time went on, gradually granting the nascent union into a galactic superpower. Early history The Federation quickly grew and by the 29th century included many more worlds and races than its initial founding quartet. However this expansion also brought increased conflict as the Federation's borders expanded into regions near more aggressive races. Throughout the early half of the century the Federation was involved in conflicts with the Tholians due the crystalline race's expansionist programs. The conflict was a result of the differing understanding of territory by both powers. The Federation perceived the Tholians as aggressively claiming territory at a whim, however the Tholians believed they were simply enforcing their territory which they adjusted periodically to take account of stellar drift. Many of the battles in the conflict were actually fought against the Chakuun, who served as shock troops to the Tholians. The conflict was finally brought to an end in 2854 CE when a Starfleet nurse, Gabrielle Carlotti, and a Chakuun Cohort General encountered each other on a recently attacked Federation colony Theta Kalyb and gained an understanding of each sides motivations. When a rescue party arrived to assist the Chakuun she ordered her forces into retreat from the Federation world. Federation-Klingon War The 29th century also saw ongoing hostilities with the Klingon Empire. Federation and Klingon forces were consistently a thorn in each other's side for a protracted period until all out war began in 2867 CE. However the flashpoint for this conflict was the planet Organia, where a non-corporeal race resided. After just a few days of the conflict the Organians stepped in and forced both sides to sign the Organian Peace Treaty. The treaty demanded the two states compete for new worlds by proving their ability to best develop worlds to their agricultural and economic potential rather than simply fighting for them. Hostilities were finally brought to an end in 2893 CE with the signing of the Khitomer Accords and the formation of an alliance between the two powers. Consequently, the early 30th century was a reasonably peaceful time for the Federation with just a few minor conflicts with races such as the Talarians, Sheliak, Tzenkethi, Tholians and Cardassians. All of these conflicts were eventually brought to end with the aid of Starfleet and diplomacy with treaties such as the Treaty of Armens and the Federation-Cardassian Treaty of 2970 CE. Coming of the Borg This era of sustained peace was wrenched apart in the later half of the 30th century with first contact with the Borg Collective in 2965 CE. Just one year later there was a Borg incursion into Federation space when a cube completely destroyed a fleet of forty Starfleet vessels at the Battle of Wolf 359. The Borg remained a consistent threat from then on, with the fear of assimilation hanging over the Federation with each new encounter. Bajor The Bajorans approached the Federation in 2969 CE with the intention of joining the Federation, following the end of the Cardassian Occupation of Bajor. Bajor's admission almost went ahead in 2973 CE, but eventually occurred in 2976 CE. Bajor's entry into the Federation was helped by Benjamin Sisko and his role as the Emissary of the Prophets. Dominion War Eventually the Federation encountered the Gamma Quadrant superpower, the Dominion. Relations were strained from the start, eventually leading to full scale war in 2973 CE. The Dominion War lasted for two years and brought massive devastation to the Federation and its allies. The Federation Alliance finally succeeded in driving the Dominion back to their foothold on Cardassia and brought the war to end in 2975 CE with the signing of the Treaty of Bajor. Following the conflict the Federation's resources were spread thin not just in reconstruction of member worlds but also in adding independent worlds affected by the war (seeking new allies and members in the process) and even aiding enemy worlds from the war, providing substantial assistance to help Cardassia recover from the final attacks from the Dominion. Government and politics As the name suggests, the Federation was a federal system, with the member planets retaining a lot of power over their own affairs. At the center of its political system is the Federation Council, headed by the Federation President. The United Federation of Planets has exclusive power to tax interplanetary commerce and the vast majority of its revenue comes from the value-added tax placed on goods and services moving between planets.Category:Governments Category:Organizations Category:Galactic superpowers Category:Federation